3d Trimester, Wk 3

More plastic bags are being recycled! By the way, Claudia found blue bags at Winston Book Store in Auburn, a gold one at the craft store near Monkey Cat, a white bag with gold stars at the candy store on Lincoln Way, and she bought a great craft book from Joanne's called "Craft Cycle."

Nancy completed her plastic shopping bag.

Sandy made two bags. She used blue Chinese plastic "rope" that she found on her shelf for the one on the right.

Irene also used Chinese plastic rope. It made the whole bag except for one side of the handle. The bag was soaked in dish liquid and baking soda to get rid of the funky plastic smell. Sandy's plastic rope did not have a smell.

This Week
Linda went over all the patterns that she gave us at the beginning of class. She wanted to know which ones we were interested in knitting.

Then, she talked about moebius knitting. Diane brought a moebius scarf and bag as examples. Linda stresses that our first moebius project should be the scarf. After that, you can branch out and do the other projects: bag, cat bed, baskets, etc. She gave us all a handout on how many to cast on and the length of cables.

First, decide on your yarn. Pick yarn that drapes well. Nothing stiff and no novelty for cast on. The cast on is the hardest part.
Second, decide on size of needles. Depends on yarn chosen.
Third, have long cables between 47 and 60 inches. Depends on what length you want your scarf to be. The scarf is circular not straight. We will be knitting from the center of the scarf to the edges. It really comes out.

For example, ww yarn might use a 48" cable with 192 stitches on size 8 needles. She also brought back the two Cat Bordhi books to show us.

Linda also showed us a huge afghan made from a photo of a person. It was amazing.

Next Week
No class next week. It is Spring Break. See you back on Apr 8.

State Flowers
A few ladies are already knitting their flowers. Karen M, a former student who is taking Linda's art class, finished five state flowers! Here are four. They are really well done and lovely. To clarify, Linda would like us to use the spring as part of our plant and not as a vase or stand.


Buttons for Sale
Leslie Rogers from Me and B Handcrafted Buttons made a presentation on customized buttons that she and her son make themselves. She also sells oil cloth bags at the Farmers' Market and on Etsy.com called EttaMae Originals.

Here are a few buttons for sale.

So many cute buttons to choose from...

Announcements
Unfortunately, Cabin Fever is going out of business. Material is 30% off. Their bags are dark pink, by the way.

Louise finished her bottom up socks. I think the one on the right was a top down socks that she made before. Nice job!

Happy Easter and Happy Knitting!

3d Trimester, Wk 2

Laurie's beautiful plastic shopping bag.

Rosemary's cute plastic bag. She used bags from Target on the bottom, and it looks like peppermint chips.

There must have been something good happening in Auburn. We missed several ladies, but 11 of us had a good discussion on where to find some nice color plastic bags. For example, did you know that Best Buy's shopping bags are dark blue? Linda said that "caution tape" can be bought at Home Depot, but get the non-sticky one since there are two kinds. Diane mentioned that surveyors use plastic tape in various colors to tie on trees; you can probably find it at Home Depot too. Claudia found deep purple bags at the Auburn Sierra Faith Hospital gift shop, and she wonders where the road cleanup crew gets the orange plastic bags. Does anyone know?

Vickie found some pink and blue trash bags at the Dollar Store. They are also scented!


Gloria bought blue trash bags at Safeway. Pretty color.

Irene bought a big skein of pink plastic "rope" at the Oriental Market in Roseville for $2.29, but it doesn't smell good.

Cynthia also mentioned that if you use the rotary cutter and a mat, you can cut six bags at one time.

Next Week
Last class before Spring Break. Continue working on plastic bags. Bring the patterns Linda gave us the first day. She will go over some of them and let us know what materials we need for moebius knitting. We will start with the moebius scarf after Spring Break. Linda brought the Cat Bordhi books to show us examples.

Linda brought this cute moebius basket that she made.

One of Linda's students from the Monday class will be present next week. She makes custom ceramic buttons and will be selling them in our class. She will also take custom orders for buttons which will be ready after Spring Break. Linda bought this set for $7. One big button is about $1. She tries to keep her prices low.


Announcements
Linda decided to keep our class at ARD next Fall, but she will raise the fee $5 more to compensate for the smaller class size. She would appreciate your feedback on this.

Linda will be teaching the folded paper chain purse at the Tin Thimble on May 22 (Sat) from 10 am to 4:30 pm.

The dates for Stitches West 2011 are Feb 17-20, one week earlier than the last three years. Two students from the Monday night class already want to pay for their bus reservations. Linda P is seriously thinking of renting the bus again next year. Linda L would like to know if anyone is interested in spending a night in Santa Clara at the next Stitches West; please let her know if you are.

Regarding our state flower challenge, feel free to work on them in class. The State Fair will be starting early this year, the week of July 14. Diana, please note that the deadline to enter might be moved up too.

Vickie felted this basket using Linda's pattern that she gave us. She used 49 stitches, and it is a nice size.


Rosemary dyed these skeins in one pot using cake icing color. The colors are variegated because she took out sections at various times.

Linda's almost finished show 'n tell, a yarn ball holder. She recycled food packages, fused them together with an iron, then knitted the sides. It is cuter in person. Linda will help anyone interested in making one.

Knit and be happy!

3d Trimester, Wk 1

Welcome to Gloria and Claudia! It was our first class of the 3d Trimester, and we were excited to receive most of the patterns for the 3d session in advance.

Present Project
Linda showed us how to make yarn out of plastic shopping bags. Some of the ladies brought a mat and rotary cutter for us to use. It really helps in making a straight edge and cutting quickly. Approximately 32 bags are needed for the project. You do not have to cut all the bags at once. A knitted cast on is used since stitches will be picked up on the bottom, and we will start with straight knitting. Knitting in the round comes later.

First, straighten bag on mat

Second, fold in half

Cut bottom of bag and top handles off. Then cut into 1" strips using a rotary cutter and a straight edge (ruler). (Scissors without a ruler is fine too.)

Link 2 strips together by looping one into the other. Then link one strip at a time onto one end of the first two strips to form a chain.

Laurie cutting plastic bags into strips.

Project after Spring Break
We will begin a simple moebius scarf on Apr 8. The hardest part is learning the cast on. It takes quite a bit of yarn of any kind but novelty is not recommended. Bring long (40" or 52") circular cable needles.

State Flower Challenge
Flowers needing a knitter are Massachusetts (arbitus), Montana (bitter root), Nevada (sage brush), New Hampshire (lilac), New Mexico (Yucca), Oklahoma (mistletoe), Connecticut/Pennsylvania (mountain laurel), Vermont (red clover), and West Virginia (rhododendrum).

Schedule
Mar 18, Class, Plastic shopping bags
Mar 25, Class, Plastic shopping bags
Apr 1, No class, Spring Break
Apr 8, Class, Moebius knitting begins

Linda is not sure where to have class in the Fall. She is deciding between Placer School for Adults and Auburn Rec Dept. She would like your input. The theme for the Fall class will be Color using new techniques in a sampler and revisiting old ones.

Other News
Diane's daughter is having a few sales this month on clothes and accessories. See her website on the left of this blog under "Our Web Sites."

Creative Urges, a shop next to Monkey Cat, will give Linda's students a 10% discount on supplies bought for our projects. They have a small amount of knitting supplies, beads, and a lot of buttons.

Babetta's in Fair Oaks says: "March is National Crochet Month, and Good Day Sacramento wanted a place to feature some of Sacramento’s fiber lovers and asked if I’d like to have them at the shop next Tuesday to feature crocheters and yes of course knitters are welcome too. I said YES! We’d like to invite any of you that can make it over to Babetta’s at 6 am on Tues, Mar 16, to come and sit and crochet or knit. We’ll be giving everyone that shows up a free beverage from the coffee shop. Let’s show Sacramento how cool 'Yarn Lovers' are!" Please RSVP them if you are interested: Babetta's Yarn and Gifts, 4400 San Juan Ave, Fair Oaks, 916-965-6043.

The dates for Stitches West 2011 have been set for Feb 17-20 (not the last week of Feb as I thought).

Nancy knitted these beautiful gloves. Great job!

Louise made this cute sweater and hat for her grandson. The sweater pattern came from the "One Skein" book with the green cover.

Sandy completed a beaded scarf, a beaded necklace, and a hit 'n miss scarf. Lovely!

Pat made this pretty hit 'n miss scarf in a blue palette.

Happy Knitting!

2d Trimester, Wk 11

Happy Birthday March ladies! And, Sandy has a new grandchild. Congratulations!

It was the last session for the 2d trimester. The 3d trimester will begin next week on March 11. If you register for the next trimester this week, you will avoid having to go to the ARD office in person to register. In the 3d trimester, Linda will cover knitting with plastic bags, moebius knitting, state flowers, and some more square patterns. All patterns will be given to us on the first day of class.

Rosemary and Pat comparing their beaded scarves. One was blocked and the other wasn't, but they both look good.

An adorable leg warmer Linda L is making for her granddaughter. It makes a nice wristwarmer too.

Laurie's son bought this beautiful purse for her at a correctional facility gift shop. It is made from ramen wrappers. Linda plans to teach a class on this some day.

Next Week's Project

For the plastic knitting bag that we will start next week, bring circular needles -- size 13 with a 24" cable and a lot of regular plastic shopping bags (the soft kind, not hard plastic). Linda used about two bags for each color above and 3 bags for the pink section.

We will start moebius knitting in a few weeks.

On the coil stand for the state flowers, feel free to spray paint it or use crystal clear spray to prevent further rust.

Stitches West Purchases
Everyone had a great time at Stitches West 2010 in Santa Clara. There was so much to see, buy, and learn. It was fun to see everyone's purchases. Linda plans on heading the bus trip again next year unless there is a really good deal on the train.

Laurie bought a lot of beautiful yarn.

Louise showing us what a silk cap looks like before separating the layers into yarn.

Claudia bought the same silk cap and had time to make it into yarn.

Claudia purchased this beautiful bag at the Teddy Bear Project booth.

Vickie's purchases. One of her purchases was a felted soap kit.

Diana's new yarn

Hit 'n Miss scarves completed on the bus. Also the ladies are wearing their scarves in the photos above.


Pictures from Louise More photos can be seen at http://knittrip.blogspot.com.



Happy Knitting!

Stitches West 2010

Hi. This trip was really fun. Photos can be seen by clicking on Stitches West 2010 under "Our Knit Trips" on the lefthand column of this site, or by going to http://knittrip.blogspot.com. Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful memories.